US Firms Race Fiscal Cliff To Install Wind Turbines

Hugh Pickens writes "BBC reports that U.S. energy companies are racing to install wind turbines before a federal tax credit expires at the end of this year which could be lost as Congress struggles with new legislation to avoid the 'fiscal cliff.' 'There's a lot of rushing right now to get projects completed by the end of the year,' says Rob Gramlich, senior vice president at the American Wind Energy Association. 'There's a good chance we could get this extension, it is very hard to predict, but the industry is not making bets on the Congress getting it done,' Even if there is an extension there is likely to be a significant curtailment of wind installations in 2013. From 1999 to 2004, Congress allowed the wind energy production tax credit to expire three times, each time retroactively extending it several months after the expiration deadline had passed, but wind energy companies say they need longer time frames to negotiate deals to sell the power they generate. 'Even if the tax credit is extended, our new construction plans likely will be ramped back substantially in 2013 compared with the last few years,' says Paul Copleman. 'So much time has passed without certainty that a normal one-year extension would not be a game-changer for our 2013 build plans.'"

hot air

[Moblaster]

All this hot wind about tax credits... I think it will break soon. And this whole thing will blow over.

Re:hot air

[ThaumaTechnician]

Cliffs generally are places where a lot of wind gets blown about. They probably are good places to install wind turbines. Bonus..we could use the electricity they generate to electrocute politicians.

Re:hot air

[WWJohnBrowningDo]

Since our founding fathers are all spinning in their graves right now, might as well hook them up to generators and harvest the free energy [smbc-comics.com].

Re:We will know an "energy source" is worth a damn

[TeknoHog]

But is hydroelectricity worth a dam?